Bands both old and new cement legacies at day three of Bonnaroo
By Bill Foster and Rusty Odom • Photos by Bill Foster
One of the best things about Bonnaroo is watching artists grow over the years as they move from stage to stage, and Saturday provided several examples of both sides of that dichotomy.
As we watched young bands like Thee Sacred Souls and Devon Gilfillian deliver statement, coming-of-age shows, we wondered when they’ll be back and how high they’ll climb on the poster when that time comes. At the same time, seasoned favorites like Odesza, My Morning Jacket and Tyler Childers delivered some of the best shows of their careers in spots much larger than the first time they played the Farm. From legends to newcomers, here are our favorites from day three of Bonnaroo 2023. – Rusty Odom
Thee Sacred Souls
Having recently appeared on most of the late-night television shows, these young Daptone artists are making a huge buzz of late. Technically a trio, they expand to a seven-piece in a live setting. Their music is a mix of ’60s soul and some more modern influences. It was perfect music for an early show, made even better when singer Josh Lane left the stage to sing out in the crowd. If you feel the absence of Black Pumas from the festival scene, help has arrived. – Bill Foster
Devon Gilfillian
Our readers should be familiar with the Nashville-based prodigy by now, as we’ve sung his praises in these pages often. He even headlined our own Second Bell Festival in Knoxville a few years ago. After his song “The Good Life” hit it big and the album garnered a Grammy nomination, Gilfillian nailed supporting slots on tours with Brothers Osborne and Grace Potter.
His show on Saturday was spectacular. Gillfilian is growing more and more comfortable taking center stage and is a clear leader now. With his band clad in matching DG-labeled loungewear, Gilfillian prowled the stage, stepping out onto the speakers to deliver a solo or pressing his guitar against his amp. He is soloing a lot more these days, and his growth in his singing, his guitar playing and his confidence is palpable. One highlight was when he invited his brother Ryan to join him onstage for an excellent version of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” The duo would later join Cory Wong’s Superjam, as well. This was a powerhouse show by a young man poised to make the next leap forward. – BF
Jenny Lewis
This was an unusual show. The crowd was minus the usual Lewis fans screaming every lyric, and everything seemed a bit torpid – possibly because it was on the hottest stage at the festival under a blazing sun. Still, Lewis has a great band and delivered fine versions of most of her new record “Joy’All,” as well as some well-selected, older gems. Set highlights included “Acid Tongue” and “Puppy and a Truck,” as well as the aforementioned title track. – BF
Cory Wong
Cory Wong opens his shows with the “20th Century Fox Fanfare” performed by a 10-piece band in matching varsity lettermen jackets. In other hands, this could be pretentious, but with Wong it just comes off as a winking way to say, “We are here to have fun.” The next 45 minutes are just as much of a blur as his right hand. Wong might be the best rhythm-guitar player in America, and he led the band through recent material like “Assassin,” “Bluebird” and “Meditation,” as well as a pair of Fearless Flyers songs and a closing run through Vulfpeck’s “Dean Town.” Throughout, the band was ferocious, playing Motown rhythms with an ironic, modern edge. And I hope one of our readers can provide me with his drummer’s name; he was an absolute beast. – BF
SOFI TUKKER
Having aged out of its target demographic, I am not really qualified to write a review of the Florida-based duo, but I know a good song when I hear it, and “Drinkee” and “Best Friends” are flat-out summertime anthems. When preformed by an energetic dude in a safety vest reading “WET” and a beautiful girl with a Flying V guitar, the allure is undeniable. – BF
Lil Nas X
These are the shows of the new Bonnaroo – of-the-moment artists who bring all the young energy, attention and spectacular production. It’s pretty exciting to feel the energy of this kind of crowd, and Lil Nas X was here for it. He made his entrance through an arch in a kind of rock/dental-fixture contraption that filled the whole stage. He was clad in a white fur coat that soon came off to reveal a gold breastplate. He had about 12 dancers, all androgynous males dressed in white booty shorts and sleeveless vests. The choreography and showmanship were impeccable as he played everything you could want to hear, starting with “Monterey,” “Scoop” and “Dead Right Now.” The issue with this sort of show is that there is no room for improvisation or surprise, but if you just want to see X do his thing, I can’t imagine it gets any better than this. – BF
Odesza
This sort of EDM isn’t for everybody, and it certainly isn’t for me. But I defy you to stand in the middle of the crowd a hundred feet back from the stage and not feel overjoyed as everyone around you cries and laughs with their hands in the air the entire time while every light, pyrotechnic, confetti, firework and stage trick known to man explodes. There were a lot of guest singers, including Sudan Archives and Izzy Bizu. There were drumlines. There were center-of-the-stage drum-offs. There was a full-on sonic and visual assault on your senses culminating in the largest fireworks display ever seen on the Farm. It was wondrous. – BF
Tyler Childers
Knoxvillians have known of Childers since he was busking on Market Square and playing Boyd’s Jig & Reel. I’ve photographed him a dozen times. But forget all that. I can’t think of an artist who has shown more recent growth than Childers, and last night’s show was a statement. The food stamps were there, of course, but they were augmented by an entire orchestra on a stage decorated with flowers, whiskey barrels and taxidermied animals. He opened the show by going to a barrel, pulling out a shot and holding it in the air as he sang an a capella cover of Cory Branan’s “Sour Mash” (with a verse that is an ode to Tennessee). It was spinetingling. I cannot convey in words Childers’ growth as a singer. He was always a powerhouse, but his voice is next-level now. He followed with “Old Country Church,” a song Childers possesses so completely that most folks don’t know it’s a Hank Williams cover. “Can I Take My Hounds to Heaven” was next, followed by a stunning and extended run through “Whitehouse Road.” Other set highlights were “You’n,” Bob Weir cover “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Angel Band” and “Way of the Triune God.” Childers is no longer up-and-coming; he now is a true top-of-the-line headliner, and he is set with this band to show everyone. – BF
My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket shows are always a big time. You can count on it. But MMJ shows at Bonnaroo are legendary. The band debuted at the Farm in 2003 and were invited back the following year. It was that ’04 show when the band etched its name in the Bonnaroo history books. The legendary set took place in what became a torrential downpour, and the performance was just released on vinyl. It doesn’t stop there, though.
In ’08, Jacket played a 35-song, nearly four-hour show, again in the rain. There’s the Superjam that Jim James (Yimothy Yames) co-hosted with John Oates, one that many vets say is the best in the festival’s history, and the main-stage spot before Arcade Fire was one of our favorites of all time. And that’s not even all of them.
James made note that the band first played this festival 20 years ago on a Saturday night that turned into Sunday morning. When the schedule revealed that they would take the final spot of the evening on Which, the festival’s second-largest stage, loyal fans knew they’d go over. We just didn’t know they’d go THAT long. It was a greatest-hits show with a few newer selections peppered in, and they all hit. They even threw in a cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and Joe Cocker’s “Feelin’ Alright” for the first time ever. I had big plans to check out Korn and JID, but I was in the pit for my favorite live band, and I simply couldn’t pull myself away. For a band that didn’t need to prove anything at Bonnaroo, they only added to a constantly growing lore between Bonnaroo and its favorite sons. – RO
